DURHAM – As great a coach as Mike Krzyzewski is – and his 900th career win at Duke on Saturday is testament to that – there are certain things even he can’t change about his current team.

But even though the Blue Devils don’t have a lot of height and are not particularly athletic on the perimeter, there’s at least one thing the Hall of Fame coach can do to help work around those inescapable deficiencies.

He can get his team to play harder and with more energy than the guys in the opposite color jerseys.

It’s a mindset that has enabled Duke to get back on track by winning four straight games after a slow start in the ACC. The latest victory, Saturday’s 78-56 handling of Florida State at Cameron Indoor Stadium, was the most graphic example of effort over execution.

The 18th-ranked Blue Devils made only 18 of their 59 field goal attempts for the game and shot a frigid 22.2 percent from the floor in the second half. And yet despite being significantly smaller inside, they made up the difference by outrebounding the Seminoles 47-24 and outhustled the opposition on both ends of the floor by forcing 17 turnovers and getting to the free throw line 43 times.

“We’re not any kind of powerhouse or anything,” Krzyzewski said afterward. “Our guys are working their butts off.”

Kryzewski did his to part make sure the intensity level stayed high by continuing to employ his bench liberally. Ten Blue Devils saw significant action in the game, with eight of them playing at least 10 minutes.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was so fired up during Saturday’s game, he shed his traditional suit coat10 minutes.

That includes seldom-used center Marshall Plumlee, who gave his team a huge jolt of adrenaline by scoring seven points, grabbing seven rebounds and making the first three free throws of his college career in 12 minutes of action.

Not only has the expanded rotation allowed Duke to become more aggressive defensively, especially on the perimeter, it has helped wear opponents down by making them work a lot harder to get the ball into the basket.

Since hitting rock bottom with a loss at Clemson on Jan. 11, their second loss in their first three ACC games, the Blue Devils (16-4, 5-2) have allowed an average of just 56.8 points while outrebounding their foes by a healthy 9.25 per game.

Saturday, Duke had more offensive rebounds (27) than FSU had in total (24), leading to a 29-10 advantage in second-chance points. Freshman Jabari Parker had 10 of those offensive boards and 14 overall, for his second straight double-digit effort.

“We can’t just keep outscoring teams. I think we realized that,” junior point guard Quinn Cook said. “Everybody is going us their best shot, so when we play hard on defense, the offense will come. We learned a lot from that Clemson game about giving it 100 percent.”

Krzyzewski, who admitted earlier this month that he wasn’t as focused as he should have been while mourning the death of his older brother, has been just as fired up on the sideline as his players have been on the court.

Saturday, the 66-year-old got so wrapped up in the action that he tossed his suit jacket and spent the rest of the game coaching in his shirt sleeves. His players responded accordingly by rolling up their proverbial sleeves and doing what it took to win the game going away.

“He wants the best for his team and he’s coached his butt off,” Cook said. “Maybe we need that.”

The Blue Devils will need every bit of that emotion and a lot more execution, too, over the next few days, as they face a pivotal stretch that will go a long way toward determining how good they really are – both on the ACC and national levels.

Monday, they face a quick turnaround, a physical opponent and a hostile environment when they travel to Pittsburgh to play the 20th-ranked Panthers. Then it’s on to Syracuse next Saturday to take on the nation’s second-ranked team in a game that has been eagerly anticipated since the ACC schedule was announced last summer.

“It’s going to be tough,” said sophomore forward Rodney Hood, who led the Blue Devils with 18 points Saturday despite getting sick just before tipoff. “But if we keep playing like we’re playing, we’re going to be in a good position.”